Ours
by Marishka12
Summary: When Tori is told by her parents that she can't date Andre, she will not take no for an answer. Because it's their love and no one can take that away from them.
1. Chapter 1

Tori's POV

"What if this doesn't work out?"

"Have a little more faith in us," said Andre gently. "We can do this; I just know it."

"But…what if it doesn't?" I asked nervously. "I've never had luck with relationships. And…I would never wanna lose you as a friend. You mean so much to me. If something happened, I don't–"

Andre interrupted me with a passionate kiss. I was shocked at first, but I eventually kissed him back. I wished I knew what number of kiss this was, but I had lost count awhile back. We'd already been dating for two weeks.

He put his hands on either side of my face and I put my hands on his shoulders. "None of that is gonna happen," he whispered when we came out of the kiss. He lightly kissed me again. "We're gonna be okay."

"I sure hope you're right," I whispered and kissed him again.

After the kiss, he smiled at me and then pushed some of my hair over my ear. "So when are you gonna tell your parents about us dating?"

I smiled and looked at the ground. "Soon. I'll tell them…soon,"

"You know, you said soon a week ago," he reminded me. "I'm starting to think you don't wanna tell them about us."

"Oh, Andre, of course I wanna tell them," I said while rubbing my hand across his cheek. "It's just…you don't know how my parents are. Whenever I tell them I have a new boyfriend, they ask me a gazillion questions about who he is and if he's a good guy and then they want to meet him and then they drill him with a gazillion questions. My dad's a cop, so I think that's where it comes from."

"But your parents already know me," he told me. "They've known me for a year and a half now and they love me."

I giggled. "I know, but…I don't know. I'm still just a little nervous."

"So…you know, but you don't? How does that work?"

I groaned. "Will you just be patient with me, please?" I begged. "I'm just a little apprehensive about telling them. But I promise I will."

He laughed and kissed me. "I was kidding, babe. You don't have to tell them right away. I was just messing with you. You tell them whenever you want to. Don't make me rush you."

"But I wanna tell them," I told him. "I just…don't know how."

"Just come out and say it," he said. "It shouldn't be too hard."

I sighed heavily. "Once again…I hope you're right." I paused. "But right now…do exactly as I say, okay?"

"Even if it pains me, I'll do it," he said with a smile. "I would do anything for you."

"This won't be hard," I told him. "Now…just shut up and kiss me,"

"I can do that," he whispered, pushed hair back, and kissed me passionately. I kissed him back and we got deep into the kiss. It turned into a little make out session. This was our first make out session and let me tell you…it felt really nice. The butterflies in my stomach told me so. I couldn't wait until we could do that again.

Andre went home fifteen minutes after our make out session ended. After I shut the door, my mom walked in the living room. "Hey sweetie,"

"Oh, hey Mom," I said. "What's up?"

"Nothing, just get a little evening snack," she said as she walked in the kitchen. She walked up to the fridge, opened it, and pulled out an apple. She took a bite then said, "What did you and Andre do?"

I smiled to myself. "Nothing really, just…hung out,"

"You two have been really hanging out a lot lately," she observed.

"We're best friends, Mom," I told her and that was the truth. I was just leaving out a tiny little detail about him being my boyfriend. "We love to hang out. We have ever since we met."

"Well…okay," she said, barely convinced. "It just seems like you two went through a time where you hardly hung out at all, but then all of a sudden, you two are connected at the hip again."

I nodded with a sad expression on my face. What she said was true. We went through a few months where we hardly talked at school or anything. We both were just so busy with so many things, but ever since Andre asked me out, we suddenly got tighter than ever. "Yeah, I know. But it's all worked out now."

"That's good," she said.

A few minutes later, my dad joined my mom and I in the kitchen. "Hello ladies," he said.

"Hey Dad," I said.

"Where's Trina?" he asked.

"Oh, she's spending the night at a friend's house," said Mom. It was a Friday night. "It's just us three for tonight."

"Allrighty then," he said and clapped his hands together. "What would you two lovely ladies like to do tonight?"

My mom looked away, trying to think of something, but I spoke up before she could think of anything. "Actually…I wanted to talk to you guys about something."

"Okay," said my dad. "Is is bad?"

"No, it's good news," I said with a smile.

"What is it?" asked Dad.

"Sit down," I said. "This is big news,"

"Alright," he said. He sat in a chair next to my mom and put his arm around the back of it. "What's up?"

I stood up in front of them. "Okay, well, um…I…have a boyfriend." I figured I might as well come out and say it.

"A boyfriend?" asked my dad. "Since when?"

"Not long,"

"Well…are you ready for the famous question and answers game?" he asked with a somewhat serious and somewhat joking expression.

I sighed. I hated those question and answers. They were sometimes never ending. "I guess, but these question and answers won't take as long as they usually do, because you already know this guy and you both already like him."

"Who is he?" asked Mom.

I smiled. "It's Andre,"

I wasn't sure what my parents' reaction would be; whether they would smile and say, "That's great!" or if they would just smile and nod and then one of them would say, "He's a good guy for you." But they didn't do either. My dad simply stared at me while my mom raised her eyebrows. "Uh…Andre?" asked my mom. "You're dating Andre?"

"Yeah," I said nervously. "Uhm…is there a problem?"

My dad sighed and stood up. "As a matter of fact, Tori…there is. We would rather you not date him. We'd like for you guys just to be friends."

My eyes suddenly widened. "What?" I exclaimed. "I barely tell you I'm dating Andre and you already tell me I can't see him anymore?"

"That's right," said my dad. "We're your parents. We have that right."

"Well, could you give me an explanation at why I can't date him?" I asked while putting my hands on my hips. We were not getting out of this without an argument.

My parents looked at me like I was stupid before glancing at each other. "Tori…" said my mom with a serious expression. "You know why we don't you to date him, right?"

It was my turn to look at them like they were stupid. "If I did, I wouldn't have asked. Could you just tell me?"

They sighed. "Tori," said my dad. He cleared his throat. "You guys…aren't the same…if you know what I mean,"

I raised my eyebrows and crossed my arms. "Actually, I don't know what you mean. Why not you just say the words?"

My dad sighed in major aggravation. "Fine. Tori, we don't want you to date Andre because he's black."

In a matter of two seconds, I was more furious than I had ever been in my entire life. I could feel my whole body shaking I was so angry. I could tell that my face was getting red in anger. "You've got to be kidding me!" I exclaimed. "You're telling me I can't date Andre because of our different skin color?"

"Tori, as I just said, we're your parents," said my dad standing up. My mom stood up as well. "We have the right to tell you who you can and cannot date. And we're telling you that you can't date him. We don't want you going out with a black guy."

"I can't believe you guys are saying this!" I exclaimed. I was very close to yelling. "He's been my best friend for like a year and you never had a problem before! Why now?"

"Because until now, you guys have just been friends," said Mom. "And we were okay with that. But dating him? No. We can't let you do that. Whenever you go out in public with him, people are going to judge you."

"I don't care what people think of me!" I yelled. "I really like him and he really likes me! And besides, judging is wrong! If people judge me, they're the ones doing wrong, not me! I should be allowed to date whoever I want to date!"

"While you're under our roof, you live by our rules." said Dad sternly. "We have every right to tell you who you can and can't date. It's our job to look out for you."

"No, you don't," I told them. "I'm seventeen years old. I'm old enough to decide who I want to date."

"But you're still in this house," said my dad more sternly than before. He pointed his finger. "You will not defy us, young lady. We forbid you to see him. Are we clear?"

"We are not clear!" I yelled. "I can't believe this! Andre is a great guy! He treats me amazing, way better than any of my other boyfriends! Not that any of my other boyfriends abused me, but he still treats me better than they did! And you should like that!"

"There are plenty of other boys out in the world, Tori," said my mom. "I'm sure there is another guy that will you treat you right and who is your same skin color."

I screamed in my hands. "Oh, my God, you guys are such hypocrites! You tell me not to do something when you've already gone and done it yourself! Dad, you're Latino and Mom, you're not! You two aren't even the same race!"

"Tori, that's different," said Dad. "When you look at us, there's not a contrasting difference. But with you and Andre…one look and you see a huge difference. We don't want that for you."

"Whatever," I grumbled. "But you know what…I don't care what you guys say. I'm gonna date Andre whether you two like it or not."

"You will not!" said Dad.

"Yeah, I will," I argued back. "I have a phone and I can call or text him whenever I want! And in case you forgot, we go to school together and have like three classes together! You can't keep us apart!"

"We'll deal with the school thing later, but we can take care of the phone thing right now." said Dad and walked right up to me and held his hand out. "Give us your phone right now."

"No," I said immediately. "I will not give you my phone."

"If you don't give me your phone in a matter of three seconds, you are grounded for a week," said my dad. "When you live in this house, you do things the first time we tell you. Now…give me your phone." I could tell he was furious.

But so was I. "You can't treat me like a baby. I'm almost eighteen. I can make my own decisions."

"Tori, you have one second to give me your phone before I force it out of you!" he yelled.

"That's impossible!" I screamed. "You can't force it out of me!"

I turned around and ran to the stairs. I began to jog up them, but my dad grabbed a hold of my left arm. Because of how hard he grabbed it and how fast I was moving, and how hard he was currently holding onto it, I knew it would leave an unmistakable bruise. I let out an involuntary squeal. "If you do not give me your phone right now, so help me God, I will ground you until you go off to college!" he yelled. Then he held out his other hand. I squeezed my eyes shut; this was torture. I wanted him to let go of my arm.

I hesitated, which made him squeeze my arm even harder. I let out a louder squeal. "Now!" he screamed.

I bit my lip and slowly and shakily reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone. Without looking in my dad's eyes, I handed him my phone. He yanked it from me and finally let go of my arm. I let out a sigh of relief. "Go to your room," he said as he turned away from me. "And you're grounded for two weeks. That means no phone, no TV, no music, and no leaving the house except for school. And no seeing Andre ever again,"

I nodded shakily and then ran up the rest of the stairs and into my room. I closed the door behind me and slid down to the floor. I held my arm out and looked at the damage. There was no bruise yet, but you could tell one would form. There was a red handprint mark from where he'd grabbed me.

I closed my eyes, brought my hands to my face, and cried my eyes out. I knew my dad could be strict when he wanted to be, but I never thought he would actually hurt me. He had to know that grabbing me like that would leave a bruise. He probably only had a hold of me for maybe ten to fifteen seconds, but it felt like an eternity.

I knew I would never look at my dad the same way again.


	2. Telling Andre

**I'm baaaack! (haha!) I literally just got home less than thirty minutes ago. My dad and I took a road trip to Branson, MO and considering we live in Texas, it was a long drive! But it was a lot of fun and I'm glad we went! Excited to go back next time! :)**

**Anyway, here is the next chapter to this story! I hope you guys like it!**

**P.S. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, favorited, and subscribed to this story! It means a lot to me! :)**

Tori's POV

I had a very hard time trying to fall asleep that night. My arm was aching in pain (after an hour, an unmistakable handprint bruise formed) and so was my stomach. My stomach was hurting because of all the fighting between me and my parents. Well, more like me and my dad. My mom had a few things to say, but it was mainly my dad that I was fighting with. I wasn't too happy with my mom, but I wasn't as angry with her as I was with my dad, not even close.

When my clock read 2:23, an idea popped into my head. I knew it was late and I knew that Andre was asleep right now, but I didn't care. The only thing that would relax me would be if I visited him. I knew where he lived by heart, so that wasn't a problem, but getting his attention would be a problem. Since I didn't have my phone, I couldn't just call or text him. But that still wasn't going to stop me. I was going to get his attention if it was the last thing I do.

Trying to be as quiet as a mouse, I snuck through the house. I quietly grabbed the keys to the car Trina and I share (thank goodness her friend had picked her up), grabbed my hoodie and purse, and snuck out the door, locking it behind me. I ran to the car, got in, and started it up. I pulled out of the driveway and drove off to Andre's house.

I parked my car next to the curb in front of his house and then jumped out and ran to the front porch. I stood there for a minute, trying to think of what I could do. I decided to check to see if the door was unlocked, because who knows…maybe his parents forgot to lock it that night.

They didn't. It was locked tight.

I sighed heavily and stepped back and looked up. Andre had a two-story house and his room was on the second floor. From where I was standing, I could see the window to his room. Then suddenly, I got another idea. I searched around in the garden and found exactly what I was looking for: rocks. I got lucky, because there was a pile of rocks and they were all pretty good sized. I grabbed a handful of them and stood back.

I sighed heavily, grabbed one, and threw it at hard as I could against the window. It didn't make a loud enough sound as I was hoping for. "Andre!" I said in a loud whisper. "Andre, it's me! Open up!" I grabbed another rock and threw it. It hit the window in the same place.

I knew that calling out his name wouldn't do any good, so I just spent my time throwing the rocks and with each throw, I was getting more and more frustrated. By the time the last rock was thrown, I had tears rolling down my cheeks. The window still hadn't opened. Dang, Andre must be a heavy sleeper.

I screamed in frustration and then ran to grab another handful of rocks. But as I was bending over, I heard something above my head. It sounded like a window opening. "Hello?" It was Andre. His voice was scratchy. "Who's out here?"

"Andre!" I screamed and got to where he could see me. "Oh, thank God you finally noticed me!"

"Tori?" he said and rubbed his eye. "What are you doing here? It's almost three in the morning."

"I have to talk to you!" I exclaimed. "Will you please come down here?"

"Why didn't you just call me?" he asked. "I'm not complaining, but I hate that you had to drive all the way out to my house at this time of night."

"My dad took my phone away," I told him. "I had no other choice,"

"What, why?"

I let out a sob. "Will you please just come down here?"

"Wait…are you crying?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed. "Please come down here! I need you!"

He nodded and then closed the window. I saw him turn around and run. I sighed and crossed my arms. A breeze blew past me, which made me shiver. It can get pretty chilly in LA at night and wearing only pajama pants, a tank top, and a hoodie wasn't cutting it.

Less than a minute later, the porch light came on and then the door opened and Andre came rushing out. Without saying a word, he wrapped his arms around me and I did the same to him. I buried my head in his shoulder and cried. Andre had a way that made me feel really safe and secure. He was also warming me up from the inside out.

After a long couple minutes, Andre pulled away so he could look in my eyes. But I was staring at the ground. He put his hand under my chin, which made me look at him. "Hey, it's okay." he said gently and wiped away my tears. Then he leaned in and kissed me. After the kiss, he said, "You're okay."

I softly smiled. "I am now." I whispered.

"What do you mean?"

I sighed and backed away and sat on the porch step. "I told my parents…about us."

"Really?" he asked getting excited. "What did they say?"

"Don't get too excited," I mumbled.

"Huh?"

"Nothing," I cleared my throat. "You know…I didn't know what their reaction would be. I didn't know if they would say congratulations or even say anything. But…I was certainly not expecting what I got."

He nodded but he had a confused expression on his face. He slowly walked up to me and sat down. "Could you be a little more specific?"

I slowly looked at him. "They don't want me to date you."

"What?" he exclaimed. "Why not?"

I sighed nervously and then stood up. "Andre, this is so hard. I never knew my parents were like this. I mean…they shouldn't be telling me to do something when they've already done it themselves. It's not fair!" I turned to him. "They don't understand how much I like you!"

"Could you just tell me?" he asked gently and stood up. He grabbed my hands. "I can handle it."

"Basically…" I sighed heavily. "They don't want us to date, because…you're…"

He squeezed my hands. "Because I'm what?"

I looked at him directly in his eyes. "Because…we're not…the same,"

He raised his eyebrows. "Not the same?" He looked off into space and his expression was gentle. After a moment, it looked angry. He looked back at me. "I think I understand. It's because I'm black, right?"

I bit my lip and nodded. "I'm sorry." I said quietly and shakily.

Andre sighed and backed away from me. He turned around and ran his fingers through his dreads. He stood there with his back to me for a moment before turning to his side. When he finally looked at me, he looked more hurt than I'd ever seen before in my life. "When I first asked you out and…we began to date…I never thought of you as being different than me." He paused. "I thought of you as…Tori Vega. You were the girl I knew I wanted to be with the moment I met you. Sure, I dated a bunch of other girls before I finally got the nerve to ask you out, but…it was always you. You were always on my mind." He paused again. "And now…I don't know what's happened. I've had to deal with prejudice in my life, but…nothing compares to this." My eyes filled with tears. It hurt me to think that Andre has dealt with that kind of pain in his life. No one deserves to go through that. Skin color is skin color. It doesn't matter. "When someone is forcing me to be away from the girl that I love, that's when I draw the line!"

I smiled wide through my tears. I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. "I love you, too." I said with no hesitation.

Andre was about to say something else, but suddenly, he looked at me with a serious expression. "You do?"

"Yeah," I said with a smile. "I've loved you…since the very first day I met you." I walked right up to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. "I don't know about you, but…for me…it was love at first sight."

He wrapped his arms around my waist. He gave me a passionate kiss and then said, "I feel the same way."

I smiled and wrapped my arms around him. He tightly put his arms around me. When we let go, I said, "I don't care what anyone says. I'm going to be with you. My parents can ground me all they want, but they can't keep me away you, no matter how much they say they can. They just can't."

He rubbed his hands up along my waist and then said, "You said your dad took your phone away…why?"

"I wouldn't give it to him." I told him. "But…he sort of forced it out of me."

"How could he force it out of you?"

I sighed and then got out of his hold. I pushed the sleeve back from my left arm and held it up. "He has the power to do this."

"Oh, my God," he said and gently grabbed my wrist and looked all around at the handprint bruise on my arm. It was an obvious handprint. Anyone could see it. I knew I would be wearing nothing but jackets or long-sleeved shirts for at least a week. "Your dad did this to you?"

"Yep," I said. "I wouldn't give him my phone and when I went to run up the stairs, he grabbed me by the arm and…yelled at me until I gave him my phone. Then I ran to my room and cried."

"He made you cry?"

I nodded. "I've been crying for hours, Andre."

"Okay, you know what…this is just crap!" He stepped away and began to pace back and forth. "I can't believe your dad would do this! And I can't believe your parents would think that way! There's nothing wrong with people of two different races getting together! The color of someone's skin has nothing to do with love. It's about what's on the inside that matters."

"That's what I tried to tell my parents." I said.

He sighed and put his hands on his hips. "So…what are we supposed to do? I would love for your parents to approve of us, but…it doesn't look like that's going to happen."

"So just so we're clear, even if they never approve of us being together, you won't break up with me?"

"Oh, goodness, Tori, no!" he said and walked up to me. He put his hands on my cheeks. "The stakes are high…the waters rough, but this love is ours." He leaned in and gave me a gentle kiss. "And no one…not even your parents can take that away from us."


	3. Andre's Decision

**Hey guys! So I wasn't planning on updating for another couple of days, but I thought I would be nice and upload today for y'all! :) And just a warning, you guys probably won't like this chapter very much. But trust me, it does get better. Just hang in there.**

**Okay, here's chapter 3! Enjoy! :)**

Tori's POV

I did not go back home that night. After mine and Andre's talk, we went in his house and up to his room. We got in his bed and got in each other's arms. Don't be fooled, nothing happened. We just wanted to be together. We were silent for a while before falling asleep.

Andre's POV

I woke up the next morning to the sound of my doorbell ringing. I didn't know if I was crazy or not, but I could have sworn I was hearing it ring over and over again. At first, I laid there and waited for my mom or my dad or my sister to get it, but I suddenly remembered that they weren't home. My parents had gone out of town for the weekend and my sister was spending the night at a friend's house. Go figure, I had the house all to myself with my girlfriend and we kept it rated G. All we did was lay in each other's arms and go to sleep.

The doorbell kept on ringing. I groaned, knowing I would have to get up and answer it. I looked down and saw that Tori was asleep on my chest. I smiled, kissed the top of her head, and gently moved her off of me. Her eyelids started to flutter and she moaned, but she simply turned over and went back to sleep.

I shook my head and whispered, "You're just too cute," I leaned over and kissed her forehead and then got out of bed. I tiptoed out of the room and closed the door behind me. I ran all the way down the hallway and down the stairs. I ran to the door and opened it.

Seeing Mr. Vega standing on my doorstep made my teeth grit. I was furious with him for many reasons, the main one being putting a bruise on Tori. I thought he was going to say something, but he didn't. Instead, he just stared at me with no expression whatsoever. I stared at him like that for a few moments, but I finally said, "What are you doing at my house?"

"Just came to get my daughter," he said and let himself in.

I turned to him and said, "Who said you were welcome in my house?"

"It doesn't matter." he grumbled. "My daughter is in this house and I'm here to get her."

"If she wanted to come home, she would have come home last night when she visited me." I told him. I was not scared of him. "She's seventeen years old. She can do what she wants."

"Now you listen here, Andre," he said and put his finger in my face. I scrunched my nose and backed away. I didn't want his finger in my face. "Tori is my daughter and she lives in my house. She will do as she is told and part of that is not dating you."

"What do you have against me?" I asked as I held my arms up. "Besides the fact that I'm black? What if I wasn't? Would you like me then?"

"Andre, it doesn't have to do with that." he said. "I don't want you with Tori any more than your parents would want Tori with you."

"You're wrong," I said. "My parents know about me and Tori and they love us together. They're not racist,"

"Don't you dare accuse me of being racist!" he exclaimed. "I am not racist! Never have been and never will be!"

"Could have fooled me,"

I looked behind me while Mr. Vega did the same. "Tori," said Mr. Vega. "I'm glad you're here. How about you get in my car and we go home?"

Tori crossed her arms. "No. How about you forget about this, go home, and I'll stay here?"

"Like heck you'll stay here," he said and walked up to her. "I told you that you were grounded and you ignored me. I hope you haven't made plans for the next two months, because that's how long you're grounded."

She shrugged. "Then I'll just sneak out again."

"I'll make sure you don't." he said sternly. "I'll go home and lock every window and door in the house. You will not be able to get out if your life depended on it."

I spent the next couple minutes listening to Tori and her father argue with each other. I looked at the ground with my hands in my pockets. This was insane. I loved Tori and I wanted to be with her, but not if it caused her and her dad to have a bad relationship forever.

When the arguing turned into screaming, my decision was made. I shook my head and yelled out, "Okay, just stop it!" Mr. Vega and Tori both quieted down and turned to look at me. I gulped and looked at Tori. "Tori, I'm sorry, but…I can't do this anymore."

The look on her face broke my heart. But I knew I had to do this. "Andre…you said it didn't matter…what my parents thought of us." she said shakily. "What happened to that?"

"Tori, I…" I started off quietly. "I still believe that. But…this is different. If you and I being together destroys your relationship with your dad forever, it's not worth it. You guys have been close your whole life. I'm not about to change that." I shook my head. "We should just go back to being friends." I walked up to her and kissed her on the cheek. She didn't move a muscle. I backed away and looked at her hurt face. "I'm sorry. I'll see you at school on Monday." I turned and walked off and went up to my room. I plopped on my bed with only one thought in mind.

What on earth have I done?


	4. Putting it into Perspective

**So…I don't have much of an author's note for this chapter, but I do have one thing to say: you are going to LOVE Trina in this chapter!**

**Okay, enjoy! :)**

Tori's POV

Andre might as well have ripped my heart out and stomped on it. It would have hurt less if he had just punched me in the face. I looked up at my dad. "Let's just go." I said shakily and walked around him and out the door.

"Tori, look at me!" he exclaimed.

I turned to him. "What? What do you want, Dad?" My voice was shaking and I was close to a breakdown.

"I'm sorry you're hurting, Tori, but what happened was meant to happen." he told me. "You didn't need to be with Andre."

A tear rolled down my cheek. "Dad…you don't understand how much I love Andre." He raised his eyebrows. "And yes, I know I just said love. I love him. I have since the first time I met him. And you took that away from me." I shook my head. "I don't think I'll ever forgive you for this."

"Oh, Tori, come on, it's not that bad." he said. "At least he's still your friend. You heard what he said."

"It was just something to say, Dad, he didn't mean it!" I screamed. "It's impossible to be friends with someone after breaking up with them. It's like the dog dying and saying we can still keep it."

"Tori, don't be like that." he said as he walked up to me. "It'll be–"

"Don't you dare tell me that it'll be okay!" I screamed. "I never want to see your face again!" I turned around and ran to my car. My dad was calling out to me, but I was ignoring him. I got in the car and raced off to my house. I gotta tell you, I'm lucky I made it home alive. I almost got into like three wrecks. But I somehow made it home in one piece.

I barged into my house and saw my mom sitting in the living room. "Tori, you're back." she said.

"Yes, I'm back." I said while in tears. "I hope you're happy!"

"Excuse me?"

"Andre broke up with me!" I said in between sobs. "He saw how much Dad and I was fighting and he didn't want to come between us. But it's too late now. I'll never be able to forgive your husband again."

"Oh, Tori, it's gonna be–"

"Actually, no, Mom, it's not gonna be okay!" I interrupted. "I have never been this mad at Dad before! I don't even want to look at his face!" I ran around the couch and up the stairs. I intended to go in my room, but when I saw Trina was home, I ran in her room. I slammed her door and she looked over at me. "I hate Dad! Why can't he just butt out of my life? He ruins everything!" I slid down the door and bawled into my hands.

It took Trina a few moments, but she finally walked over to me and put her hand on my shoulder. "What happened?"

I recovered enough to look up at her and tell her what was up. It seemed weird that all of this had only happened in the course of less than twelve hours. "I finally told Mom and Dad that Andre and I were together, but…it didn't go as well as I'd hoped."

"What do you mean?" she asked and sat cross-legged in front of me.

"Last night…when I told them…they told me that I couldn't date Andre anymore, because he's black." I mumbled.

"What?" she exclaimed. "That's insane!"

"You're telling me," I said. "But…things got crazy last night. Mom and Dad basically forbid me to see Andre anymore. I told them that I'm old enough to make my own decisions, but they said that I was living in their house and I had to do what they said. Anyway…some other things were said and…Dad asked me to give him my phone. But I wouldn't do it. I fought with him. I started to run upstairs, but… he grabbed me by the arm." I pushed the sleeve back and held out my arm. The bruise was still there clear as day.

She gasped and put one hand over her mouth. She put her other hand on my wrist and turned my arm around so she could look at the whole handprint. "Oh, God," She looked at me. "Are you okay?"

"Physically yes, but…emotionally…" I shook my head. "I'm far from okay."

She nodded. "So…what else happened?"

"Well…he forced me to give him my phone and I had to." I explained. "I didn't have a choice. Then I went to my room and stayed up there until I went to bed. But I couldn't fall asleep that night. At a little after two in the morning, I snuck out and went to Andre's house. I told him what happened, but he said that no matter what anyone said, we would stay together."

She softly smiled. "So what's the problem?"

"I stayed the night with him." I told her. "Nothing happened, we just went to sleep in his bed. Then this morning, Dad came to get me. But…I wouldn't go with him at first. Then we got into a fight. Before long, it turned into screaming. Andre finally made us be quiet and…he said…that he didn't want to come in between me and Dad, because he knows how close we've always been, so…he broke up with me." I let out a few sobs. "But it's already happened, Trina. I'll never be able to look at Dad the same way again." I broke down again and bawled into my hands.

Trina sat there in silence for a couple minutes before moving next to me. She immediately wrapped her arms around me. I buried my head in her shoulder. "It's okay." she whispered. "It'll be okay, baby sis." It was kind of funny, because whenever my parents tried telling me that it would be okay, I didn't even wanna hear it. But somehow, hearing my sister say it, I believed it. Trina may seem really self-centered and conceited and…okay, she is self-centered and conceited. But she still loves me and I love her. I don't know what I'd do without her. It's nice to have someone to talk to when it feels like your world is falling apart. And yes, that might sound a little dramatic, but I don't care. Losing the guy you love, because your parents don't approve. In the end, that's not why Andre broke up with me, but that's where it started.

Trina's POV

Once I finally got Tori calmed down and to fall asleep, I carried her to my bed and laid her down. I could tell she hadn't got much sleep the night before. She had bags under her eyes and she just generally looked exhausted. I hoped she could get some sleep.

I snuck out of the room and went downstairs. I found my parents sitting at the kitchen table talking about something serious over a cup of coffee. I didn't know what was being said and I didn't really care. I marched right over to them and began to speak. "What is the matter with you two?"

"Excuse me, Trina?" said my dad.

"You heard me," I said and crossed my arms. "Do you really have to be that low?"

"Trina, don't talk to your father like that," said my mom standing up.

"I'm talking about you too, Mom." I said. "Both of you should be ashamed of yourselves."

"Why is that?" asked Mom.

I looked at Dad. "Dad, for yelling at Tori and putting a bruise on her." I looked at Mom. "For being on Dad's side. And for both of you…for telling her she can't date Andre, because he's black." I shook my head. "Really? You've got to be kidding me! He treats her with so much respect! You two should be happy about that!"

"Okay, Trina, that is enough!" said my dad standing up. "But first of all, what are you talking about? I never put a bruise on her. I would never hurt one of my daughters."

I eyed him. "Uh…you obviously haven't seen her arm. She's got a purple and blue handprint bruise around her left arm, from where you grabbed her yesterday!"

I watched his eyes as I told him these words and I could see them soften up. But it still didn't ease my anger. I was furious. "Oh, my God. I…I never meant to hurt her. Is she okay?"

"Not really," I said. "She's sleeping right now, but if she was awake, I just know that she would crying."

"Trina, what are you getting at?" asked Mom.

"This," I said. "Mom, Dad…Andre is a great guy. He's sweet, smart, talented, and an all-around amazing guy. You two should be lucky that Tori chose to be with him. So what if he has a different skin color than her. That doesn't matter. Love doesn't care about color. Besides…" I crossed my arms. "What about you two? Dad, you're Latino; Mom, you're not." I was just looking at Mom now. "Mom, how would you have felt if right after you and Dad started dating, your mom and dad told you that you couldn't be with him because of his skin color? How do you think that would have made you feel?"

My mom knew I was right and you could tell she hated it. She sighed heavily. "Well…I guess you're right, Trina."

"Of course I'm right," I said. "And Dad…how would it have made you feel if Grandma and Grandpa talked to you and told you that you couldn't be with their daughter? I'm sure you would think they were being racist."

"Trina–"

"No, Dad, I'm not done," I said. "If one of your parents disapproved, Tori and I wouldn't be here right now. What if you guys let Andre and Tori get back together, which you really and honestly should, and they end up staying together long out of high school and they get married? What if they have kids? You guys would have grandkids. You don't wanna take away the possibility of having grandkids, now would you?"

My parents remained silent. They didn't know what to say.

"Andre and Tori love each other." I told them seriously. "They've been just friends for way too long. They deserve to be happy…with each other. Plus, what difference does it make to you guys if they're together? If they love each other, let them be. It shouldn't matter to anyone but them."

"Trina…do you know what people would say if they go out in public?" asked Mom quietly.

"Maybe, 'aww, look at that happy couple!'" I shrugged. "How is that so bad?"

"No," said my mom. "Look at that pretty girl with a black boy."

I screamed at no one. "Oh, my God, you guys are hopeless! I'm going back to my room." I turned around and ran out of the room without another word. I hoped that that talk I had with them shot some sense into them. They needed it. Majorly.


	5. This Love Is Ours

**Hey guys! So just a warning, this is my next to last chapter! Even before I started to write this story, I knew it wouldn't be extremely long. It was meant to be a short little tale, but with a lot of drama! But don't worry, I've got longer stories that I'll be posting soon! :)**

**Enjoy! :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the song "Ours" by Taylor Swift.**

Tori's POV

I spent the rest of Saturday and all day Sunday by writing a song. It was about Andre. I didn't care that we currently weren't together; I would find some way to be with him if it was the last thing to do. I loved him too much to let him go that easily.

On Sunday evening, when I completely finished writing the song, I sang it out loud to myself while locked away in my room. I thought it had a great message to it.

Elevator buttons and morning air

Stranger silence makes me wanna take the stairs

If you were here we'd laugh about their vacant stares

But right now, my time is there's

Seems like there's always someone who disapproves

They'll judge it like they know about me and you

And the verdict comes from those with nothing else to do

The jury's out, but my choice is you

So don't you worry your pretty little mind

People throw rocks at things that shine

And life makes love look hard

The stakes are high; the water's rough

But this love is ours

You never know what people have up their sleeves

Ghosts from your past gonna jump out at me

Lurking in the shadows with their lip-gloss smiles

But I don't care, cause right now you're mine

And you'll say don't you worry your pretty little mind

People throw rocks at things that shine

And life makes love look hard

The stakes are high; the water's rough

But this love is ours

And it's not theirs to speculate if it's wrong

And your hands are tough, but they are where mine belong

And I'll fight their doubt and give you faith with this song for you

Cause I love the gap between your teeth

And I love the riddles that you speak

And any snide remarks from my father about your tattoos will be ignored

Cause my heart is yours

So don't you worry your pretty little mind

People throw rocks at things that shine

And life makes love look hard

Don't you worry your pretty little mind

People throw rocks at things that shine

But they can't take what's ours

They can't take what's ours

The stakes are high; the water's rough

But this love is ours

I smiled after singing that last word. I'd told Andre before that I didn't know how to write a song and that was true at the time, but after observing him write songs for so long, I learned how to write them. And I'm glad I did. There's no better feeling that putting your thoughts out there on paper.

Suddenly, I heard a knock on my door. I looked towards it from where I was sitting on my bed and said, "Come in."

The door opened and in walked my mom. She smiled. "Hi baby."

I barely smiled and looked at the ground. "Hi Mom." I still wasn't very happy with her. The only person in the whole house I could even bare to look at was Trina. "Not trying to be rude, but what do you want?"

She sighed and said, "I heard your song."

I gasped. "What? Were you eavesdropping?"

"I'm sorry, Tori, I didn't mean to." she told me sincerely. "I was just coming to talk to you, but then I heard you singing. I didn't wanna disrupt you, so I waited until you finished. But…while I was waiting…I was also listening to you singing."

My heart instantly picked up speed. "Did you understand the lyrics?" I asked nervously.

She sighed and closed my door. She slowly walked up to my bed with her arms crossed. "As a matter of fact…I did."

I bit my lip. "And…what did you think?"

"I can't believe I'm saying this." she mumbled. She sighed again and sat on the edge of my bed. "Your song made me realize that…you were right and I was wrong."

My eyes widened. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," She cleared her throat. "I'm really sorry, sweetie. Your dad and I shouldn't have told you that you can't be with Andre just because of his skin color. We were wrong."

As I was just staring at her, my eyes widened even more. If they weren't connected to my body, they would have just fallen right out of my head. I couldn't believe I was hearing this. "But…but…what made you change your mind? Just two days ago, you were dead set on me not dating Andre."

She sighed. "I know. But…yesterday, Trina came and talked to me and your father. She just made us believe that it was okay for you and Andre to date. Just so we're clear…he treated you good?"

"Absolutely amazing," I told her.

She nodded. "She told us that we should be lucky that you found a guy like Andre. But…something she said that really got me thinking was…what if back when your dad and I got together, my parents told me that I wasn't allowed to date him? I would have hated that."

I nodded, even though that thought already went through my head a million times during the past two days.

"To make a long story short…Trina put it into perspective." She patted my shoulder. "You sure do have a good sister there. She can be a little…different…but you know she'll always be there for you. You should be thankful for her."

"I am," I said with a smile. "I love her."

"I know you do."

"So…" I smiled widely. "I can be with Andre again?"

She sighed, but then nodded. "Yes. You can be with him."

"Yes!" I screamed and jumped up and ran to the door.

But Mom said, "Hold it, hold it there. Not so fast,"

I sighed and looked back at her. "I knew that was too easy." I walked back over to her and plopped on the bed.

She let out a few chuckles and tucked some hair behind my ear. "You can go see him if you do one thing…"

"What's that?"

"Go make up with your father."

"Uh…" I bit my lip. "Mom, I don't…" I glanced down at my arm, looking at the bruise that was still visible.

"I know, baby, I know." she said. "Can I see your arm real quick?"

I hesitantly held my arm out. She grabbed my wrist and turned it in her hand. She observed it in silence for a moment and then set it down. She looked up at me. "Honestly….when that happened, it didn't look like he hurt you at all."

I raised my eyebrows. "Seriously? Because I can guarantee you that it did hurt."

"By looking at that bruise, yeah, I'm sure it did." she said. She gently ran the back of her head across my cheek. "But the look on your face said that he was hurting you. I'm so sorry, sweetheart."

"It's okay." I said while blinking back the tears in my eyes.

"Tori, you know that your dad didn't mean to do that to you."

I shook my head. "No, I don't. I'm sure he could tell it was hurting me, but he wouldn't let go until he had my phone." Speaking of which, I still didn't have my phone back.

"I really didn't, baby."

I looked up and saw my dad standing in the threshold of my room. He shook his head. "I would never intentionally try to hurt you."

"That's how you made it seem." I said as I crossed my arms.

"Well…baby, I'm so sorry." He walked up to me and sat on the other side of the bed. "But I'm your father. I'll always love you no matter what you do. I just want what's best for you."

I didn't know what to say, so I just looked at the ground.

"Tori, Andre wasn't wrong." he said.

"About what?" I asked.

"About how we'd always had a close relationship," he said. "You gotta admit…we've been pretty tight ever since you were a little baby."

"Things change, Dad," I said shakily.

He sighed. "Honey…what if I told you that…you could date Andre again?"

"I'd say…would you be saying this if Trina hadn't talked to you two?"

"Well…no, probably not right now, but it would have occurred to us eventually," he said. "And…apparently, Andre makes you happy. I guess we just didn't see that. And we're sorry about that."

My eyes filled up with tears. "Dad…you have no idea how bad you made me feel Friday night. After I went to my room and…cried…I couldn't help but think that I didn't know who you were anymore. Because…the dad I know and grew up with would never put a bruise on me or tell me I can't date a guy because of his skin color." I shook my head. "I love you, Dad, and I always will, but…I'll always remember this and how much you hurt me."

"I never meant to hurt you, sweetheart." he told me. "I just want you to be happy. I was too mad on Friday to realize that. I was dead set on what I thought and I thought that nothing could change my mind, but…" He softly smiled. "Your sister can be pretty convincing."

I quickly raised my eyebrows and looked down. "You got that right."

"Tori, look at me," he said and I slowly looked at him. I still couldn't look him in the eye, so I was just staring at his forehead. "I know how Andre feels now. If your mother's dad came and told me that I couldn't be with her, because of my skin color, I would have been furious."

"Hmm," I said. "Putting things in perspective helps, doesn't it?"

"It certainly does." he said. "And Tori…I know your furious with me. I don't blame you. But I just want you to know that I love you so much. And I want you to be happy. That's all any dad really wants for his children. And if Andre makes you happy…then I'm happy."

I softly smiled. "You are?"

"Of course I am, sweetie," he said. "I always want what's best for you."

I blinked a few times. "What's best for me?" I held up my arm. "Does this look like what's best for me?"

"No, it's not, sweetie," he said as if it pained him. He looked at my arm and I could see the pain in them. He grabbed my arm and gave it a gentle kiss right there in the middle. He was so gentle that it didn't even hurt. But I still had a tear that suddenly slid down my cheek. He looked up and said, "I'm sorry, baby…did I hurt you?"

I told myself to never forgive my dad. I told myself that probably a million times. But I could tell that he was being truthful. And if he was being truthful, there's no reason why I shouldn't forgive him. In a way, I was kind of glad that Andre broke up with me. (Did I really just say that?) If he hadn't, Trina wouldn't have talked to my parents about the situation and my parents wouldn't have finally come to their senses. Besides, getting Andre back would be very simple. I'm convinced that I'm Andre's weakness. Why do I think that? Well, for one thing, he was furious at my dad for putting the bruise on my arm. And there were a million other reasons why I think that.

I gulped and shook my head. "No," I said in a choked up voice. I couldn't take it anymore; I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around him. He instantly put his arms around me. "I'm sorry, Daddy. I love you,"

"Oh, no, you have nothing to be sorry for you," he said as he rubbed his hand over the back of my hair. "I'm the one that should be sorry. I should never have hurt you. I feel awful about it."

"It's okay, Daddy." I said in tears. "It's alright,"

We set there and hugged for a few minutes. Neither of us wanted to let go. At least not until Dad said, "Go,"

I made a face and looked at him. "Go where?"

"To Andre," he said. "Go to him. Now,"

I smiled. "You mean that?"

He nodded and then reached in his back pocket. He pulled out my PearPhone. "If I didn't, I wouldn't be giving you your phone back."

I squealed as I took it from him. "You're serious about this?" I quickly turned it back on.

"If I wasn't, I wouldn't be giving it to you," he said. "And besides…that phone is so high tech I couldn't figure out how to do anything with it. All I could do was turn it off and on."

I giggled. "It's not that hard to work with,"

"Yeah, well, it was for me, Miss Teenager," he said. He held up his arms and said, "Hey…hey what are you still doing here? Go to your boyfriend! He needs you right now!" He smiled and then leaned in and kissed my forehead. "Not only that, but…you need him. You've been a mess these last two days."

"How would you know?" I asked. I put my phone in my back pocket. I would look through it later. "I've hardly left my room."

"Well, that's how I know," he told me. "Now go! Before I force you out!"

I giggled. "Thanks, Daddy," I gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and then jumped up from the bed. I ran around it and gave my mom a hug from behind. As I was backing out of the room, I said, "I love you guys." Then I turned and ran out. On my way out, I ran past Trina's room and said, "Thanks, sis,"

She looked at me and smiled. "For what?"

I gave her a nod. "You know what for,"

She nodded. "I do know,"

"Yeah," I said. "Just…thanks,"

"No problem," she told me. "Now go to your boy toy!"

"Trina!" I screeched.

"What? You know that's what he is!"

I rolled my eyes. "Only my sister," I muttered. I gave her a wave. "See ya later," I ran away and down the stairs. I grabbed my purse and keys and ran out the door and out to the car. I jumped in, put the key in, and drove off.

I couldn't get to Andre's house fast enough.

When I got there, I ran up to the front door and began to knock over and over and over again. I kept on knocking until I heard footsteps coming. I smiled and stood back. The door opened and it was Andre.

I didn't give him time to say anything before I jumped in his arms and attacked his lips; he was holding me bridal-style. It took him a moment of hesitation, but he finally kissed me back. And it was incredible. I hadn't kissed his lips in two days and I was certainly making up for it. We were practically making out after only five seconds and I loved it. My stomach had butterflies in it.

When we finally pulled apart, we simply put our foreheads together. I had both of my arms around his neck, but I moved one hand to his neck. I put my nose up to his and whispered, "I love you so much,"

"I love you, too, baby," he whispered and pulled me in for another kiss. Just like the one before, this one turned into a little make out session. It only lasted approximately thirty seconds, but it was a make out session nonetheless.

When this one ended, he put me back on my feet. He wrapped his arms around my waist and said, "Is everything okay back at home?"

I nodded, putting my arms around his neck. "Yeah, it's good," I couldn't help but place another little kiss on his lips. "My parents are okay with us dating now."

At those words, he pulled away and looked at me in the eye. "Are you serious?"

"Yeah," I said. "Trina talked some sense into them yesterday, which changed their minds."

"Wait…Trina did?" he asked and I nodded. "What all did she say to them?"

"Just some stuff to put it in perspective," I told him. "But to be honest, I don't know what all she said, but whatever she said, I'm glad she said it. If she didn't, I probably wouldn't be here right now.

"But…what about your dad?" he asked. "Are you and he good again?"

I nodded. "I think so. It's too soon to tell though. I'll know for sure once the bruise on my arm goes away, but…it's a whole lot better than it was yesterday morning." I sighed. "He just told me that he was sorry and that he didn't mean to put the bruise on my arm. And I could tell by his voice that he meant it. I couldn't help but forgive him."

"That's good." he said. "That way I won't feel bad when I do this…" He leaned in and kissed me.

"And if you do…" I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I'll sing this little medley for you…" I put my lips close up to his ear and began to softly sing. "Don't you worry you're pretty little mind; people throw rocks at things that shine and life makes love look hard. The stakes are high; the water's rough, but this love is ours." I pulled away and smiled softly.

He let out a little shiver and then kissed my forehead. "Your voice is flawless, baby."

I smiled and then we hugged tightly. We stood there in silence for a good two minutes. We just stood there embracing each other. And it felt amazing. It was that moment that I realized I never wanted to be with anyone but Andre for as long as I lived. Sure, maybe we were only seventeen, but we still knew what love was about. And no one, not even my parents (especially my parents) could tell us otherwise.


	6. Epilogue

**Okay, here is the last chapter, guys. And it's a really short chapter, but I think it's a really cute one. I hope you guys enjoy it! :)**

Tori's POV

"Mommy?" muttered Katie.

I wiped my three-year-old daughter's curly hair out of her face. "Yes, baby?"

She looked up at me with her big brown eyes. Whenever I looked in her eyes, I thought of her daddy. Everyone said she had my eyes, but I was convinced that she had Andre's eyes. "Sing me the song."

"The whole song?"

She nodded. "The whole song,"

I nodded and smiled and began to sing.

"…but they can't take what's ours." I sang softly. "They can't take what's ours." I looked down at her face to see if she was still listening, but she'd fallen asleep. She always manages to fall asleep while I'm singing that song. It's okay, because that's the point of the song. It's meant to be relaxing. But I hoped I wasn't the only one singing that song in the world. My song, "Ours," was currently the number one song on all the billboard charts and had been for three weeks already. I felt like the luckiest twenty-six year old in the whole wide world: I was married to Andre, whom was both a best friend and a lover, and he was the best husband I could ever imagine; we had the most beautiful three-year-old daughter and in just two weeks, I would also have a son with me. I was simply enjoying life's every day gifts. That's all you really can do in a world that's so big.

I smiled as I laid my hands atop my huge pregnant belly and finished singing to my sleeping baby girl. "The stakes are high…the water's rough, but this love is ours."

**And that concludes the story, "Ours." I hope you guys enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you haven't reviewed this whole story, PLEASE review now! I really want to know what you guys think of the story.**

**And thank you to all the people who have reviewed, favorited, and followed. And an extra special thank you to the one who helped me figure out the world of fanfiction (you know who you are;) )!**

**Well, that's it for now. And I've got more (longer) stories coming soon, mostly Tandre, and I hope you guys will check them out!**

**Until next time…**

**-Marishka12 (Marisa; "Marishka" is just a nickname my friends gave me)**


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